Janine Jansen

JANSEN Brahms & Bartók 4788412

. . . this remarkable coupling of two towering violin concertos finds Janine Jansen fully in command of two distinct musical languages . . . the quality that comes through in her playing -- and for that matter through the supple, passionate conducting of Antonio Pappano -- is the sheer personal force that each composer expressed through this music . . . [Brahms / Violin Concerto no. 1]: Pappano can elicit a singing tone from an orchestra, as he does here, while at the same time injecting it with power, grandeur, sensitivity and subtlety of instrumental timbre, the musicians responding with eloquent refinement and strength. Jansen is breathtakingly supreme. She possesses all the intellectual authority and expressive weight that the first movement requires, yet this is tempered by the wonderful spectrum of tone and the fluidity of pulse she can summon in the slow movement . . . [both Jansen and Pappano perform the finale] with terrific momentum and exuberant, spicy flourish. The stature of the Brahms concerto is impressively captured here . . . [just as the Bartók concerto] delves deeply and movingly into the music's piquant romantic sensibility and brings to the second movement a mercurial range of moods, a sophisticated palette of colour and a folk-tinged vitality. Altogether a highly desirable disc.

. . . the quality that comes through in her playing -- and for that matter through the supple, passionate conducting of Antonio Pappano -- is the sheer personal force that each composer expressed through this music . . . Pappano can elicit a singing tone from an orchestra, as he does here, while at the same time injecting it with power, grandeur, sensitivity and subtlety of instrumental timbre, the musicians responding with eloquent refinement . . . Jansen is breathtakingly supreme. She possesses all the intellectual authority and expressive weight . . . yet this is tempered by the wonderful spectrum of tone and the fluidity of pulse she can summon in the slow movement, blessed with some of the most beautiful, almost whispered notes high in the violin's register that you are ever likely to hear . . . [both Jansen and Pappano perform the Brahms concerto] with terrific momentum and exuberant, spicy flourish . . . the Brahms concerto is impressively captured here, just as the Bartók concerto . . . [also] delves deeply and movingly into the music's piquant romantic sensibility and brings to the second movement a mercurial range of moods, a sophisticated palette of colour and a folk-tinged vitality. Altogether a highly desirable disc.

Janine Jansen gives us a lyric reading of rare inwardness and beauty . . . [in the Bartók concerto this is heard in] the tenderness of her playing and the fineness with which she delineates solo lines . . . In fact, it is a performance that marries meditation with motion, such is the suppleness of Jansen's and Pappano's feel for the concerto's larger symphonic movement and the hand-in-glove relationship that exists between soloist, conductor and Pappano's superbly responsive Santa Cecilia orchestra . . . What's more, for all the ravishment of her playing, Jansen never threatens to hog the limelight . . . Jansen and Pappano continue their persuasive ways in the Adagio, which is lovingly realised at not too slow a tempo . . . Jansen's coupling is shrewd and imaginative . . . It's an inspired pairing. I find it remarkable that the Rome recording of the Brahms is live, so rapt is the atmosphere, so inch-perfect the recorded balances . . . Jansen's performance is a thing of quality in its own right which provides a strikingly original epilogue to an outstanding disc.

Record Review /
Richard Osborne,
Gramophone online / 01. January 2016

. . . [the Bartók concerto is] a wonderful showpiece for the lyrical and virtuosic Janine Jansen . . . Spellbinding from its opening solo, this is an imaginative pairing with a perfectly formed Brahms -- Jansen believes it is the first such coupling. Good idea, great playing.

. . . [Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia's and Pappano's sound in the Brahms Violin Concerto] is rich and weighty, the better to support Jansen's interpretation, itself heavyweight yet characteristically mercurial. Jansen's playing glows, and the second theme of the first movement really sings; here and throughout, there is the feeling that Jansen wants every phrase to say something. Refreshingly in this sometimes over-veneered work, she is not afraid to let the sound turn fleetingly vehement when needed . . . [Bartók 1]: There is no doubt of the sincerity of feeling in Jansen's performance, all tender lyricism and contained but palpable passion. It's balanced convincingly by the second, final movement, in which the playing is crisp and characterful from soloist and orchestra alike.

Record Review /
Erica Jeal,
The Guardian (London) / 07. January 2016

I don't think she has made a better recording than this . . . The Brahms is a perfect balance of the impulsive and the lyrical, showcasing Jansen's gorgeously silky sound on her 1727 Strad. What most caught my attention, however, was the delicious playfulness of the interpretation . . . [in Jansen's hands the Bartók sounds far closer to Brahms's romantic spirit than to the iconoclastic toughness for which Bartók was renowned . . . Jansen brilliantly responds to this bipolar element.

Record Review /
Richard Morrison,
The Times (London) / 15. January 2016

[Bartók 1]: Antonio Pappano's responsive LSO are suitably refined accompanists in Bartók's rapturous first movement. The closing minutes are sublime, especially when we're wrong-footed by an unexpected resolution. And the brief recollection of the 6/8 opening just before the finale's brash close is wonderfully handled, Jansen playing with serene assurance. Has this work ever received a better recording? . . . [Brahms / Violin Concerto]: a performance bristling with fiery intelligence. Pappano clarifies Brahms's thick textures, and the orchestra's quiet playing is among this reading's glories. The quiet passage immediately after the first movement cadenza is heartstopping, and the Adagio's oboe solo is very sweetly done. This concerto can feel a bit of a slog, but Jansen and Pappano's collective intelligence makes it fly by. Brahms's finale rightly dances, never going through the motions.

Record Review /
Graham Rickson,
Arts Desk (London) / 23. January 2016

Janine Jansen's customary fire comes through, clear and blazing, in this unusual pairing of violin concertos . . . [in the Brahms concerto,] Ms. Jansen and Mr. Pappano let loose all their charisma and sonic clout. After an Adagio colored by exquisite wind solos, the last movement erupts in a jubilant, rustic dance . . . [in the Bartok, Ms. Jansen patiently spins the solo line,] which she fills out with emotion in tiny increments. In the mercurial second movement she eagerly responds to each mood swing in the music, turning in a standout performance of this masterful concerto.

Record Review /
Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim,
The New York Times / 27. January 2016

. . . an unusual pairing that has not been tried on disc before, but it makes perfect sense . . . This is an inspired pairing. Jansen plays with a beautiful tone in the Brahms but just as much credit should be levelled at conductor Antonio Pappano and the Santa Cecilia orchestra, for their singing accompaniment that makes the listener want to hum along with the tunes . . . in this recording there is a fresh approach, as though the melodies have just been written. The oboe solo in the slow movement is gorgeously played, while the rustic finale is joyous and uninhibited. The Bartók is similarly fresh, and again the orchestra -- this time the London Symphony -- cut through all the different textures and crossrhythms to make sense of this occasionally complex music. The rhythmic profile is strong once again, while technically Jansen is right at the top of her game, graceful in the first movement and gritty in the second but without losing any poise . . . The two works complement each other in a highly original and brilliantly played pairing.

Record Review /
Arcana.fm / 02. February 2016

It's a long time since we heard a Brahms Concerto as freshly conceived and intensely played as this live performance . . . their rapport here is complete. She is daring with the improvisatory, rhapsodising quality of the solo passages in Brahms's great first movement, while the conductor encourages a chamber music-like affinity between the soloist and his outstanding principal oboe, Francesco di Rosa, in the sublime adagio. Moreover, the Hungarian finale is played with exhilarating dash and bravado . . . [Jansen is a zealous advocate for Bartók's first Violin Concerto,] which often sounds like a dry run for the later, greater concerto -- but not here!

Record Review /
Hugh Canning,
The Sunday Times (London) / 21. February 2016

. . . [Brahms / Violin Concerto]: a particularly beautiful and authoritative account. Tempi, a touch slower than some recent recordings, allow a reflective yet magisterial approach. Jansen's lyricism, refinement and obvious love for this music is matched by intensity and conviction. Joachim Brahms' lovely cadenza is fresh and radiant.

Pappano sets the scene well at the beginning: elegant long lines and richness of sound combined with fluidity of movement . . . Jansen's performance seems to want to tell us that this is what the Brahms Violin Concerto is really about: not so much a symphony with violin as chamber music with orchestra . . . it works well. Brahms here is truly the German Romantic poet of woodland solitude . . . [the Bartók concerto] is a revelation. Somehow Jansen manages to coax this music out of its accustomed reticence, but without any sense of forcing it to speak. The music remains reserved, acutely sensitive, but now with an added dimension of almost painful tenderness . . . this concerto really does sing of unrequited love, well-aided by the warm and beautifully balanced recording.

[Brahms / Violin Concerto]: Ms. Jansen plays beautifully, as we would expect. There is always a lovely lilt to the music, the melodies floating effortlessly throughout. She is particularly careful not to overdo the main theme in the first movement but keeps it in accordance with the light, flowing mood of the rest of her playing. The "Adagio", with its beautiful oboe introduction, is the highlight of the show, with Jansen's entrance most magical. Then, Pappano and company end the work in a properly enthusiastic style . . . [in the Bartok, the LSO sounds fuller and lusher,] yet they still provide Ms. Jansen a relatively intimate accompaniment. Perhaps to better establish the relationship between the Bartok and Brahms pieces, Ms. Jansen injects them both with an affectionate, evocative flavor, the melodies dancing with a passionate, songlike character . . .

. . . this new release is worth having for the Brahms alone . . . [Jansen] delivers an engrossing interpretation of the first movement, filled with personal touches, subtlety, and an overall feeling of freshness. The accompaniment under an equally animated Antonio Pappano is also superior . . . The Brahms Violin Concerto is also brawny and symphonic in scope, especially in the opening movement, and for me it was the tonal grandeur of Jansen's playing that captured my attention -- she far exceeded expectations . . . [I'm not entirely captivated by Bartók's score,] but Jansen could make me a convert. She and Pappano deliver a Romantic reading of luscious languor in the first movement that's irresistible . . . [this pairing achieves] a striking success on all counts . . . [Jansen's Stradivarius] is recorded with sumptuous fidelity, as are both orchestras. The program notes are above average.

Record Review /
Huntley Dent,
Fanfare (Tenafly, NJ) / 01. July 2016

The Brahms is quite good. The Saint Cecilia forces have a dark and weighty sound that fits this music well . . . the slow movement is swiftly flowing and sings well. The woodwind solos are beautiful, and never drag. Janine Jansen is of course a great soloist . . . and she plays with tremendous personality and a real understanding of Brahms' moods . . . [in Bartók's Violin Concerto no. 1] the London Symphony sounds outstanding . . . Pappano clearly understands the sound world that the music requires to be successful. And Jansen makes this music even more her own than she does the Brahms . . . this is excellent.

Record Review /
Brian Wigman,
Classical Net / 13. September 2016

. . . dazzlingly played.

Record Review /
Hugh Canning,
The Sunday Times (London) / 04. December 2016

The Brahms Violin Concerto is a challenging warhorse for any violinist to record, especially given the wealth of excellent recordings already in existence. Janine Jansen rises to the occasion here in a recording that is an interpretive masterclass. Her playing is strikingly beautiful with a shimmering brightness of tone and spotless intonation. She makes each phrase count as each note adds to the meaning and heft of the whole piece. The first movement is especially thoughtful, both commanding and graceful . . . The first movement of the Bartok is also a highlight of the disc, with Jansen shining in the lyric solo lines.

Record Review /
Jeff Zumfelde,
Colorado Public Radio / 07. December 2016